1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an outside diameter adjuster for adjusting the outside diameter of a folding cylinder in accordance with the thicknesses of overlapped continuous papers in the folding cylinder of a folding portion of a rotary press for overlapping continuous papers printed in several printing sections and cutting and folding these continuous papers.
2. Description of the Related Art
An adjustment of the outside diameter of a folding cylinder in a folding portion of a rotary press in accordance with the thicknesses of overlapped continuous papers is well known as a means for setting produced folding binding to a preferable state irrespective of its thickness. For example, techniques described in Japanese Patents 2538925 (prior art 1), 2705922 (prior art 2) and 2788321 (prior art 3) are known.
The technique described in the prior art 1 is as follows. A sun gear has a rotating center common to that of a folding cylinder and can be rotated separately from the folding cylinder by selecting an aligning or unaligning state with the folding cylinder. The sun gear is engaged with a gear attached to a male screw shaft rotatably arranged near an inner circumferential face of the folding cylinder in parallel with an axis of the folding cylinder. The sun gear is rotated in the unaligning state with the folding cylinder so that the male screw shaft is rotated through the gear engaged with the sun gear. Thus, a slide base coupled to the male screw shaft by a screw is slid in parallel with the axis of the folding cylinder. A cam mechanism is constructed by an inclining groove arranged in the slide base and a cam follower inserted into the inclining groove. A slide plate attaching the cam follower thereto is slid in a direction perpendicular to a sliding direction of the slide base through the cam mechanism. One end of a thin plate-shaped member is connected to the slide plate and the other end of the thin plate-shaped member is connected to the folding cylinder. This thin plate-shaped member is curved by sliding the slide plate such that the thin plate-shaped member swells outside an outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder. The thin plate-shaped member also extends along the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder by sliding the slide plate.
The technique described in the prior art 2 is as follows. A drive shaft has a rotating center common to that of a folding cylinder and is arranged in a hollow portion of a folding cylinder shaft so as to rotate separately from the folding cylinder by selecting an aligning or unaligning state with the folding cylinder. This drive shaft is rotated in the unaligning state with the folding cylinder through a drive gear attached to this drive shaft so that a female screw shaft is rotated. The female screw shaft is connected to the drive shaft through a pair of umbrella gears and is rotatably arranged along a radial direction of the folding cylinder. Further, a male screw shaft screw-coupled to the female screw shaft is moved in its axial direction by rotating the female screw shaft so that an operating shaft is angularly displaced. The operating shaft is connected to the male screw shaft through a link mechanism and is rotatably arranged near an inner circumferential face of the folding cylinder in parallel with an axis of the folding cylinder. A connecting link is connected to the operating shaft through an upper projection of the operating shaft and is arranged in the folding cylinder so as to move along an outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder. The connecting link is moved along the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder by the angular displacement of the operating shaft. One end of a thin plate-shaped member is connected to this connecting link and the other end of the thin plate-shaped member is connected to the folding cylinder. The thin plate-shaped member is curved outside the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder and extends along the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder by moving the connecting link along the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder.
The technique described in the prior art 3 is as follows. An adjusting ring has the same rotating center as the rotating center of a folding cylinder in which a folding jaw is arranged. The adjusting ring can be rotated integrally with the folding cylinder and is arranged in the folding cylinder so as to change a rotating phase. A rack is arranged on an outer circumferential side of the adjusting ring. A drive gear is engaged with the rack. The drive gear is attached to an eccentric shaft rotatably arranged near an inner circumferential face of the folding cylinder in parallel with an axis of the folding cylinder. An adjusting gear is attached to the output shaft of a motor arranged within the folding cylinder and is engaged with an inner gear series of the adjusting ring. The eccentric shaft is angularly displaced through the drive gear engaged with the rack of the adjusting ring by changing the rotating phase of the adjusting ring with respect to the folding cylinder through the adjusting gear. Further, the outside face of an arc member is covered with a resilient lining. The arc member is arranged such that an outside face of the resilient lining is in conformity with an outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder. Further, one end of the arc member is rotatably attached around an axis parallel to that of the folding cylinder, and the other end of the arc member is pressed against an eccentric circumferential face by spring force. The other end side of the arc member covered with the resilient lining is projected outside the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder and is returned to a state along the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder by the angular displacement of the eccentric shaft.
The prior arts 1 to 3 have the following several problems to be solved. The prior art 1 is constructed by a combination of a screw coupling mechanism of the slide base and the male screw shaft arranged in parallel with the axis of the folding cylinder, a slide mechanism of the slide base and the slide plate, a cam mechanism of the inclining groove of the slide base and the cam follower of the slide plate, etc. Therefore, this construction is relatively complicated and the number of parts is increased. Further, there are many parts requiring high processing accuracy to obtain a smooth sliding operation. Therefore, problems exist in that initial cost is high and breakdown frequency tends to be high and the number of processes is increased in maintenance and repair works. Furthermore, a problem exists in that mechanical energy loss is large since many sliding operations are used.
The prior art 2 is constructed by a combination of an umbrella gear mechanism for connecting the drive shaft and the female screw shaft, a screw connecting mechanism of the female screw shaft and the male screw shaft, a link mechanism for connecting the male screw shaft and the operating shaft, a connecting mechanism to the connecting link using an upper projection formed in the operating shaft, a sliding mechanism of the connecting link, etc. Therefore, this construction is very complicated and the number of parts is large, and parts of high processing accuracy are also required to obtain a smooth sliding operation. Therefore, problems exist in that initial cost is high and breakdown frequency is high and the number of maintenance and repair processes is large. Furthermore, a problem exists in that mechanical energy loss is increased by a sliding operation.
Further, in the above prior arts 1 and 2, the thin plate-shaped member is constructed such that this thin plate-shaped member is repeatedly curved and extended. Therefore, a repeating load is applied to the thin plate-shaped member so that the thin plate shaped member is fatigued and possibility of damage of this thin plate-shaped member is high. Therefore, frequent maintenance and management are required to prevent this damage.
In the prior art 3, the adjusting ring having outer and inner gears is attached to the folding cylinder, and the motor for angularly displacing the adjusting ring is arranged within the folding cylinder. Therefore, electric mounting parts such as a slip ring, etc. are required, and it is necessary to arrange and wire the motor so as to bear centrifugal force caused by rotating the folding cylinder so that initial cost is increased. Further, it is difficult to secure a space for arranging the motor within the folding cylinder into which the folding jaw and its operating mechanism, etc. are assembled. It is also necessary to arrange a balance weight or a member corresponding to this balance weight in accordance with the arrangement of the motor. Therefore, a problem exists in that unreasonableness and useless tend to be caused in design and manufacture.
Further, in the mechanism of the prior art 3, the arc member is projected outside the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder by angularly displacing the eccentric shaft and is returned to a state along the outer circumferential face of the folding cylinder. Therefore, a problem exists in that adjusting accuracy is reduced by backlash in engagements of the respective gears for displacing the eccentric shaft.
To solve the above problems, the present invention proposes an outside diameter adjuster of a folding cylinder characterized in that the outside diameter adjuster comprises a basic body having a columnar outer circumferential face; a basic body rotating shaft rotated integrally with the basic body; a first gear rotated integrally with the basic body rotating shaft; a fourth gear having the same rotating center as the basic body rotating shaft and rotatable with respect to the basic body rotating shaft, and an outside diameter adjusting operating mechanism in which this mechanism has a second gear engaged with the first gear and also has a third gear engaged with the fourth gear and rotating centers of the second and third gears are set to the same rotating center, and the second and third gears are integrally rotated and can be moved in an axial direction of this rotating center; the basic body has a groove, an angular displaceable shaft arranged in the groove and angularly displaceable within the basic body in parallel with the basic body rotating shaft, angular displacing force giving means for giving force for angularly displacing the angular displaceable shaft in one direction at any time, an eccentric portion angularly displaced integrally with the angular displaceable shaft, and an outer circumferential member forming one portion of the outer circumferential face of the basic body and movable in a radial direction of the basic body by the angular displacement of the eccentric portion; a sixth gear rotatable integrally with the angular displaceable shaft is arranged in this angular displaceable shaft; a fifth gear is engaged with the sixth gear and has the same rotating center as the basic body rotating shaft and the fourth gear and is rotated integrally with the fourth gear and is arranged such that a rotating phase of the fifth gear with respect to the basic body can be changed; and at least one of a gear pair of the first and second gears engaged with each other and a gear pair of the third and fourth gears is mutually constructed by helical gears.
In the above outside diameter adjuster of the folding cylinder, it is also proposed that all of the first, second, third and fourth gears are helical gears. In the above outside diameter adjuster of the folding cylinder, it is also proposed that torsional directions of teeth of the first and fourth gears are set to the same direction. In the above outside diameter adjuster of the folding cylinder, it is further proposed that the second and third gears are an integrated gear having a wide tooth width.
In the above outside diameter adjuster of the folding cylinder, it is also proposed that torsional directions of teeth of the first and fourth gears are set to reverse directions. In the above outside diameter adjuster of the folding cylinder, it is further proposed that the second and third gears are double helical gears having a suitable middle groove.